Heat Up Your Weekend Barbecue With Recipes From Your Local Firehouse

Memorial Day Weekend has become a time for celebration, but not everyone is fortunate enough to have the weekend off. While most of us spend our time on the beach, at barbecues, or both, firefighters, policemen and EMS staff are hard at work to ensure our safety. While we take part in the revelry of the de facto summer kick-off weekend, they remain on the clock working hard to prevent and manage emergencies. For that, and for all that they do, we say ‘Thank you!’

To bring attention to those hardworking individuals, we reached out to a couple of local fire departments to ask them what they were planning on making this weekend, so we could share those recipes with you. Here is our list of firehouse recipes; I guarantee they’ll hit the spot this holiday weekend!

Firehouse Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

1 lb. Chorizo Sausage
2 Poblano Peppers
½ White Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 Ripe Avocado
1 Pack of Martin’s Potato Roll
1 Can Crushed Tomatoes
A Dash of Your Favorite Hot Sauce
Salt to Taste

The first step is to prep all of the ingredients. It is easiest to do all of the cutting/chopping in the beginning, so you do not need to scramble to prep an ingredient when it is called upon. Roughly chop both the poblano peppers and the white onion. The pieces should be big enough to add some texture to the finished sandwich, but small enough to be manageable. Mince the garlic and set aside. Slice the avocado into strips. Once done with the vegetables, move on to prepping the meat. If your chorizo came in links, you’ll want to slice the casing along the entire sausage and place the filling in a bowl on the side. The casing can be discarded.

Place a lightly oiled cast iron skillet over a medium heat and allow it to come to temperature. The peppers will take the longest to cook, so we will add them first. Let them brown and soften for about 5 minutes before adding the onions. When adding the onions, throw on a generous pinch or two of salt to help them sweat. Allow the onions and peppers to cook and soften for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Lastly, add the garlic to the pan and brown for 2 to 3 minutes.

Once the vegetables are browned, you can add the sausage filling (that you removed from the casing). The raw sausage will stick together at first, but as it cooks it will begin to crumble. Once cooked through (10-15 minutes), add the brown sugar, canned tomatoes, and a dash of your hot sauce (or more, firefighters like it hot!) to the mixture. Let the mixture reduce, thicken, and meld for a few minutes and then you are finished.

Add a generous scoop of chorizo sloppy Joe mix to a potato roll, top with slices of avocado, and ENJOY!

The other recipe received comes courtesy of Mahwah Fire Company #1, who shared this special dessert recipe with us.

“The recipe became popular when the bride of one of our firefighters used it in their wedding cake.  The bride is French trained Pastry Chef and had developed this recipe when baking in some of the finest Manhattan restaurants.  The recipe is intended to be made as a layer cake (not for cupcakes) so firefighters can have a good sized portion.  It is also the official cake of our 100th Anniversary which will be celebrated this year. “

MAHWAH FIREHOUSE CO. 1 DEVIL’S FOOD CAKE RECIPE

(for a 2-layer cake – 8” or 9” rounds)

Sift together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl:

2 cups sugar
1 ½ cups all-purposed flour (unbleached)
1 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoons salt

Whisk together all of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl

1 cup buttermilk
1 cup coffee (room temp or cold)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 yolks
2 ounces melted butter (room temp)

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk together, bake and you’re done!  A whipped vanilla or peanut butter filling works best as a finishing touch.

Thank you again, for all of those working hard this weekend to keep us safe!